The Loss of the Lock
by Avengers-x-Ace-Reader
Summary: Thor x Reader. Thor has the reader do his hair, but he loses a piece in the battle and it causes him concern. Fluff. All stories gender-neutral as possible. One shot.


The storm was one of the worst you had flown through in a while and if he wasn't currently sitting next to you, you would think that Thor had something to do with it. Thunderclaps kept rocking the Quinjet, and the rain was so heavy that you were unsure how Clint could see to stay on course.

Wanda handed you a small elastic band and you tied off her braid for her. Natasha was busy helping Clint with piloting the jet, so you were left as the only one who could manage the Sokovian girl's long hair. She thanked you when you finished, and went back to sit with her brother. Pietro grinned at you, and you stuck your tongue out at him. He could braid Wanda's hair in a pinch, but he was always happy to let you deal with it.

You stretched out your hands, wiggling your fingers with a sigh. Wanda's hair was so long and thick that braiding it required a certain amount of time to do it properly. You stretched your back too for good measure, groaning. As soon as you finished, Thor leaned forward to catch your attention.

"May I ask a favour of you, (Name)?"

"Sure." You replied, raising your eyebrows. "What can I do for you?"

"Would you dress my hair, as you have done for Wanda?" He asked, nodding his head toward where she was sitting with Pietro.

"You want me to braid your hair?"

"If it is no trouble to you."

"Okay. Well, uh, take a seat." You said, gesturing to the floor in front of you.

The demigod sat without hesitation and you began to comb his long blond hair, splitting it into several parts. You had originally thought you might do a single braid for simplicity, but you decided to give him multiple smaller braids like he sometimes wore anyway.

"So why did you want braids?" You asked once you were halfway done, mumbling around the comb you were holding in your teeth.

"For the same purpose as Wanda." Thor said with a shrug. "My hair was a great nuisance the last time we battled during a storm."

"Fair enough." You tied his braids with your spare elastics, and then gathered them into a ponytail. "And you're done."

"You have my thanks."

Thor gave you a broad smile over his shoulder as he tugged at the ponytail, before he stood and helped you to your feet.

"We're about to land, folks. Hold on tight!" Clint yelled at that moment, and Thor grabbed his hammer and went to the ramp as soon as you grabbed onto the rail.

You held tightly to the handholds as Clint brought the jet down at a hard angle and Natasha opened the door up. Steve, Tony, and Thor all leapt from the jet in mid air while you and the twins waited for your teammates to land the aircraft safely before attempting to leave.

Pietro and Wanda were gone in a flash, leaving you and the former spies to make your way back to where the others had landed. Luckily Tony kept letting off flares to illuminate the target, which made it easy for the three of you to find them. Once you saw the target though, you wondered why Tony bothered. The amount of swords the thing had strapped to it made the flares almost pointless. Even in the semi-darkness the blades caught all the available light and flashed like little beacons.

Apparently the guy was immune to electricity even with all that metal though, as Thor had hit him no less than three times with lightning right as you arrived, to no effect. Having come to the same conclusion that the lightening wasn't working, Thor moved to just using the hammer to bash at him. You could see Thor's ponytail had loose in one of the bursts of light from Tony's flares and you winced, wondering if you should have gone with a single braid after all.

You fired another trip line into a tree, trying to make a web along with Clint and Natasha to tangle the target up in. There was a loud crash right after you fired, and you saw the target come flying down at full speed. You dove off to the side, rolling until you smacked into a tree. Eyes watering, you looked up to see that the trip lines had worked and the target was caught. Thor was just about to deal the final hammer blow when the target lashed out with his free hand, and the sword missed Thor's face by inches.

The night rang with the sound of thunder and Mjolnir, and Tony dropped down to help Thor constrain and pack up the target. You and the others worked on undoing the trip lines and coiling the ones that had broken after they had removed the man, and you were right underneath where the target had been when you saw something on the ground. It caught the light just enough to have the faintest sheen, and you bent down to inspect whatever it was.

It was one of Thor's braids. You quickly scooped it off the ground, dusting the dirt off before you tucked it into a pocket. You were looking for Thor when Natasha called your codename over the Comm and you followed her coordinates to help her and Clint with an especially tangled and broken line, forgetting about the braid as you helped them wrestle it free.

You didn't remember that you had it until you were back at the facility after unloading the target. Thor was nowhere to be seen, so you asked Steve if he had seen the demigod anywhere. Neither he nor Tony had seen him, and no one else you asked had either. After tracking down Natasha, which was a feat of its own, you finally had a clue of where to look and headed for the roof.

"Thor? Are you out here?" You barely stuck your head out of the door, not wanting to be in the line of fire if you startled him. The storm had ended, so it wasn't as dark or wet to your relief.

"I am."

He was standing with his hands braced on the ledge that ran around the roof, just visible from the small safety lights on the building. He looked pensive, and you approached him cautiously.

"Is something wrong?" You asked, stopping a couple feet away.

"There is indeed. But I do not wish to trouble you with it, (Name)."

"You can tell me, I don't mind."

Thor looked at you, and smiled. He still looked distracted though, and he turned back to look across the field surrounding the facility. You edged a little closer to him, and tentatively put one hand on his arm, just above his elbow. He covered your hand with his, and heaved a sigh.

"It appears that I have lost one of my braids in our last battle."

"Are you bothered because there's an uneven spot in your hair now?"

"I am not so vain!" Thor laughed, but he sobered quickly. "I am bothered as there is a great deal of mischief that my brother could cause with the hair, should he obtain it."

"Oh! You're in luck then." You grinned and pulled the braid from your pocket with your free hand, holding it out to him. "I saw it on the ground earlier and picked it up."

"I am in luck, indeed!"

Thor laughed, a huge booming chuckle, and he picked you up to give you a massive bear hug. You laughed too, although yours was a tiny bit wheezy. Sometimes you forgot how strong Thor was compared to everyone else, and being lifted as if you weighed nothing made you a bit breathless. Thor gave you an extra squeeze before putting you back down, and cupped your face in his hands.

"May I express my pleasure in this discovery by kissing you?" He asked, raising one eyebrow.

"Sure." You wheezed, and Thor picked you back up and kissed you firmly before setting you down on the ledge.

When you offered him the braid again, he shook his head and folded your fingers over it.

"You are welcome to keep it." He said, covering your hand with both of his. "There is no mischief _you_ could cause me that I would not welcome."


End file.
